The Courier

Tag: music

  • Billy and Kathryn

    This is a photo of Billy. I know, I know, you have seen it before. But- did I ever tell you about my friendship with Billy?

    I have always wondered how our families first connected. The Robinsons and the McCarty families was a connection, unlike any other. My Mom told me that she, and Aunt Mary would talk after church. Originally, they lived in a trailer, behind the church I remember. I just remember coming back from Great Granny’s funeral, and there were all these guns, and boxes of ammo beneath my metal frame bunkbed from Children’s Company. That was the first time I ever heard the name Robinson. I was impressed. The Robinsons had decided to store there guns at our house. Later, Mom and Dad had them over after church. At first me and Billy did not get along. In fact, I thought I was being forced to be Billy’s friend! But after a while, I noticed, we would always have some kind of adventure together. Our families were closely aligned, it seemed. Uncle Rob was in the Navy. That was so exciting to me.

    Long paragraph. But I have a bit to explain. After a while, in the Fall of 1995, my Mom, and Aunt Mary began Psalm singing with us children. The Psalters, which were last revised in 1936, I noticed, were moldy. But they were what we were going to sing. I didn’t remember ever seeing a Psalter prior to our Psalm singing. For a while, it was just the Robinsons and the McCartys that did the Psalm singing. But I really felt this time was foundational to what happened later. Where our families went from barely being able to get along, to going on vacations together!

    Then, we added another family to our Psalm singing. The Winslows. It was actually pretty fun. We would have about 45 minutes to do something before the Psalm singing. Then, afterwards we would have another 45 minutes to do some activites. I remember we would play all sorts of out door games, like for a while we did hockey. Then, we did kickball, and soccer too. It was so much fun. Then, me Billy, and Kathryn would go off, and have discussions too. We were all close in age. I was a bit younger than Billy and Kathryn. But I felt a connection forming, with both Billy and Kathryn. So, I always consider that to be my first real connection.

    Now, I am no longer connected with Billy, or Kathryn. But the memory of that time, is so positive to me, I still think about it often. I don’t have any pictures of Kathryn, but if I did maybe I wouldn’t share it, unless she said it were ok. But this picture of Billy is from a public website. Billy is now a counselor, in Grand Rapids. I have sometimes thought of signing up for a session just to talk with him. Kathryn married and moved to Wyoming. But I really felt like Billy deserved the credit for the connection with Kathryn. We went from arguing and fighting, mostly my fault, to being able to sit together for Sunday school. Or at Youth Group. Or, we would discuss our families. It was really neat.

    You might think Uncle Rob being in the Navy was the reason I joined. It was influential, and one time we got a tour of a submarine. But Uncle Rob actually, had told me not to join the Navy.

    Then, I remember one day, my Mom, and Aunt Mary kind of got into a fight. It was just after William was born, they wouldn’t talk for years. It was so sad, because the Robinsons and the McCarty families had gotten along so well. Something about the move I guess. I never figured out why they fought, but I did know that my Aunt Mary and Mom agreed: Someday they would meet for lunch. That was a profound statement for me. So, I wanted that to happen. It did happen! I ended up going to Billy’s graduation from Christian Liberty Academy, in Illinois. After that, I remember my Mom and Aunt Mary re-connecting.

    But yes, without Billy, I doubt I ever would have been able to connect with other people very well. I think Kathryn had reached out to form a friendship, prior to the arrival of Billy, and it failed. I didn’t even know what a connection was, till Billy showed up.

    The Saddest Moment

    One day, Billy managed to call me, while I was stationed in Misawa. He wanted me to attend his wedding. Because of manning I doubted whether I would get leave. I had nefarious intentions of my own, for returning to the states. So, I did ask if I could get leave. But they told me I wouldn’t get it. I think my Uncle Rob could have helped me get leave, but I didn’t press the issue. I regret not attending Billy’s wedding. It would have been such a blessing to see him, at his big moment, when his family formed. I met his wife, to and she is not only beautiful, but very sweet. Billy had told me, he would be willing to do “Just about anything” to have me at his wedding. I felt like I failed Billy, in not pressing for the leave. For not attending his wedding. I regret this Billy.

  • My Grief Turns To Joy

    Now that I have discussed my grief (mixed with joy, for what was, and if God intervenes, what may be as well), I can now discuss matters which bring me joy. My friend Billy. I use the word “friend”, but I have had him described as a brother. I appreciate this term. I admire the things Billy shares.

    From time to time, Billy will use his wisdom with me. I get it in short bursts. It is encouraging, and I eagerly look forward to each morsel. But perhaps I could elaborate, a little on Billy. Well, for one, I feel strongly that he is my little brother, “William’s” namesake.

    I did not always appreciate Billy. I remember when our families first began to “hangout”. I noticed we shared many things in common. For example, a neat array of firearms. Also, both our Moms (my “Aunt Mary”), enjoyed reading to there children. We both sat through John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, as our Moms read it to us. Also, the Hiding Place as well.

    Our Moms first started talking, in 1995, I believe, at Church. They were living in a camper at the time, in the church parking lot. I remember the camper being there. I was not sure who was in it, though. I have always been kind of an introvert. We were at the time, attending the OPC Church in Bothell, Washington. Trinity.

    I remember the first time the Robinsons came over. That was really the first time I had ever remembered meeting Billy. We showed Billy, and his brother Matthew (Matt, as he was called) the woods. The old foundation. The river and the park, up in Arlington, Washington.

    For some reason, Thanksgiving became a big deal to our families. Every Thanksgiving, we would go somewhere. One year, we even rented a cabin from a NAVY recreational facility on the coast! That was so cool. I still remember watching Airplane, for the first time. I cracked up at that one, even as a kid.

    Billy was really into watching movies back then. He was the one who bought Jingle All The Way. He gave it to me for my birthday. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he goes on a mission to find his son a Turbo Man doll. That was probably his funniest movie!

    Our Moms also delved into Psalm singing. For a while, we even looked at some music history, which ended up being fascinating to me. I appreciated the Psalm singing and music history more, later in life. While I was in the NAVY, and as I did not regularly attend church I could recall the many promises of God, from singing in the Psalter. Sometimes we would try and find the longest one. I found one that had 23 verses to it! We sang it, and Billy went into the bathroom lol.

    I remember a game we used to play. It was Axis & Allies. My Dad, and his Dad, my Uncle Rob would take Billy and me hunting. One year, in 1996, we went. Billy told me to bring our game with me. So, I put it on top of all the guns in the Chevy Nova. Instead of doing much hunting, we got snowed in. So, Billy and me got to play a lot of Axis & Allies that hunting season. Yes, we were in the old camper they had used to stay in, so we were nice and warm, plus we had hot chocolate.

    We did make it out hunting a little bit, that time. I remember going out just after it had finished snowing. It was so silent. I still remember the silence, because it was deafening. It made me think of it being at night, yet the sun was out. It was so beautiful, seeing all the white. I wish I had a picture of it. It made me think of the North Pole.

    In the end, Billy’s family had to move to Michigan. I was always saddened by that. But eventually, I got to travel, and fly to Michigan and I visited Billy for his graduation from Christian Liberty Academy. That was in 2000. Right after I had first connected with “icanslamsatan”. I remember that Billy had a car, and we would go driving sometimes. He took me into Grand Rapids for the first time. It was neat. You really ought to go.

    Every now and then, Grand Rapids comes up. When it does, I think of Billy. Billy has a certain love for that place, and I think its wonderful. One time, after I had gotten out of the NAVY, I took a class on World Religions, at TCC. During the class, we reviewed the Apostles Creed and guess where the translation was from? Grand Rapids! Of all the different copies they chose to use the one from Grand Rapids, that I had read when I was a child. So, naturally, this was another moment where I thought of Billy.

    Well, that is all for this post. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and you got the grasp of the truth of closeness with Billy, in my youth. Maybe I will write more later, but Billy got off of Social Media years ago. Sometimes, I think I should get off as well. But right now, my Facebook has a lot of engagement. Hopefully, for the right reasons.

  • A Bitter-Sweet Memory

    On November 2, 2007 Sneff broke my heart while I was in Misawa, Japan. This was the ONLY thing which kept me from ending myself. I understood, God had me in a better place. On Jan 1 2008 I celebrated New Years with my brother and my Sister-In-Law, in Dallas-Fort Worth. It was fantastic. We didn’t really party hard, but I remember it was very relaxing. I remember, about the same time that Stephanie broke my heart, I found this song and yet, when I play it, it makes me think of the time spent with my brother and Sister-in-Law at New Years!!! It’s a Christmas song:

    I was actually looking up other Christmas songs, in my despair, and happened across this one. It stuck out to me. I love when Sarah sings, and when they say “West leading, still proceeding”, so comforting. Also, in relation to Japan, that was the year I actually DID go West, to Manama, Bahrain. So, it was funny, to me how this song has been in my playlist every year, since 2007. I proceeded even though- to be honest, I didn’t want too. I wanted to curl up in the fetal position and go to sleep, at the time. This song helped me to appreciate not only Sarah Mclachlan, but the Barenaked Ladies as well.

    I was already listening to Christmas music. My Christmas station, Star 102.1 was already playing Christmas music, this past week. So, I began looking up some of my favorites on YouTube as well, and as usual this one came up. I love listening to all the songs, but of course as with anything, I have my favorites. Some other favorites are Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives just to name a couple.

    Merry Christmas!!!

  • The Great American Victory!!!

    This election was not just a victory for Trump! It was more so a victory for the American people!! Trump is already appointing people who will sort out our government, like Elon and Vivek. The emerging Trump team is going to have awesome people in it!!! People with actual talents and abilities, for the tasks for which they have been uniquely chosen.

    John Ratcliffe For Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

    You can read this for yourself! But I will actually, point out a few things for you. First, John was awarded the National Security Medal in 2020, the highest honor in his field. John is also the first person to serve as both Director of National Security, and Director of the CIA. His experience will be important to Trump, and he will clear out the CIA hopefully. As we can see, John has already helped Trump in some big ways. Congratulations John!!!